The present invention relates to a system and method for virtual television program rating, and in particular, to a system and method for enabling participation of a plurality of users to rate television programs through an electronic interface, in conjunction with at least one additional source of television program rating information.
The rating of television programs is both inexact and yet highly commercially important. The rating of a program, or the number of viewers watching a particular program, is important for determining advertising revenue which can be charged for that program. Demographic analysis of such rating information is also important, since a program which is intended for children would presumably include advertisements for toys and other items of interest to children, while a television program which is intended for older adults might include advertisements for automobiles and household products, for example. Demographic analysis is used to determine which types of viewers are actually watching a particular program, since a program for children may also be viewed by their caregivers, for example. Such analysis in turn is useful for both determining advertising revenues and the types of advertisements which should be shown to viewers of these television programs.
However, as noted previously, actually determining these television ratings is very inexact. Currently available methods include the xe2x80x9cNielsen boxxe2x80x9d of the Nielsen(trademark) rating system (Nielsen Media Research). This xe2x80x9cboxxe2x80x9d is an electronic device which is connected to the television set of a sampled cross-section of television viewers and which detects the television program being watched. Such detection is then used in order to determine the ratings. Other methods include surveys of television viewers. Unfortunately, all of these methods are inexact, as they do not necessarily measure who is watching a particular program, nor do they determine whether a particular program is being actively watched or is merely xe2x80x9cbackground noisexe2x80x9d. Furthermore, these methods are less suitable for rating advertisements themselves, or even to determine whether such advertisements have the attention of the viewers. Finally, these methods are passive, in that they cannot be used to actively promote a particular television program.
One attempt to provide an active method for rating movies is disclosed as the xe2x80x9cHollywood Stock Exchange(trademark)xe2x80x9d (http://www.hsx.com as of Apr. 20, 1999), which enables users to buy virtual xe2x80x9cstocksxe2x80x9d in movies. The price for such virtual stocks is set only according to the estimate of the users as to the gross sales of tickets for the movie before the movie is released, and only according to actual gross sales after the movie is released. Therefore, such a method does not combine at least two sources of rating information in order to determine how much each virtual stock is worth. Furthermore, such a method would not be useful for television programs, which are recurrent and which usually are shown periodically throughout a television season. Thus, the disclosed method is both generally deficient and is also particularly unsuitable for rating television programs.
A more useful system and method would provide an independent measure of the rating for a particular television program, as well as independent demographic analysis of the audience for the program. Such a system and method would preferably combine at least two sources of television program rating information, including at least one source obtained through user input into an electronic interface such as a Web browser which would be indicative of the interest of the user in a particular television program, thereby potentially increasing the accuracy of such television program ratings. Such a system and method would also be suitable for determining the level of viewer interest in an advertisement. In addition, such a system and method would also be useful for actually promoting a particular television program. Unfortunately, such a system and method are not currently available.
There is thus a need for, and it would be useful to have, a system and a method for rating a television program which combines at least two different sources of rating information, including at least one source obtained through user input into an electronic interface such as a Web browser, which would also be useful for determining the interest of viewers in advertisements and which could also be used for promoting television programs.